Choice's Curse {d.m.}

Convergent

A pause, a breath, a moment.

"Mine were. You think that I took that memory from you because I regretted it, yes?"

A nod from me urged him to continue. I wanted to say...well, I wanted to say a lot, but I wanted to hear why he had done what he did. Needed , really. Needed to know why he stole from me something that should've been a memory that set my heart racing from excitement, not pain.

"Because you think...you think terrible things about me, or at least sometimes you do," Draco went on.

I did, that was true. He didn't need a confirmation from me though, so I didn't respond at all. "And you're right to think those things. I'm not going to argue with that. I've made my choices. So has everyone else. You would be far from the first to think those things about me, but you know that. I am well aware of how this school perceives me."

Hearing Draco talk about himself in such a plain and upfront matter was disconcerting, to say the least. Knowing that he was aware of the whispers and rumors flying around the school that mentioned his name shouldn't have surprised me, but perhaps I thought it should've bothered him more than it did, or at least more than he was letting on right now.

"So yes, I do shitty things, Elaine. You know that better than anyone. I've been a massive arse to you since we've met, though you're not entirely innocent yourself. There is something about you that drives me insane, and I still can't figure out if it's in a good way or in a horrid, nails-on-a-chalkboard sort of way." Draco said, twirling his wand between his fingers as he spoke.

I was almost glad he wasn't looking at me, because I wasn't doing a damn thing to hide the array of emotions that crossed my face as he continued to speak. In his typical fashion, he was taking ages to get to the point, but I found myself not minding the long, winding route his voice was taking.

Even with the insult-centred detours he was taking along the way.

"Every time I think I've decided, you do something that makes me feel the other way, and really, it's quite annoying. I've never met someone so adept at worming their way into my life, especially into the parts that I don't allow anyone to see. You just always seem to find me at my lowest, or maybe being around you causes that to happen. You don't even manage to stay away after I do things I'm sure will scare you off."

He's rambling; he's nervous. I don't know if I'd ever seen him so jittery, though if I hadn't spent so much time around him this year, I would've thought nothing was amiss.

"I don't know if that's just an incredibly unlikely bit of bad luck or if you just have a penchant for unsafe situations. Nothing about us is safe at all. But..."

Another pause, another moment that had me on edge.

"But I didn't erase that memory because I regretted it."

Draco finally stopped twirling his wand, his eyes darting to mine, and I found myself quite frozen as he took me in. The pause had me nearly opening my mouth to ask why he didn't regret it, but I found I'd had a spectacular talent of ruining these revealing moments Draco so rarely gifted me. As hard as it was, I kept quiet as Draco scanned my face, his steely eyes returning more than once to my mouth.

At least I was keeping my glances quick and unnoticeable.

Then why-

Draco stood slowly, tucking his wand away, his full attention on my relaxed body in the rickety wooden chair. He crossed the short distance between us in a single step, his dark figure even more imposing in my seated position. And then his cologne hit me, hard , and I nearly reached out a trembling hand just to try and satiate the want in my core to touch him that was starting to burn. "I did it," he said, his gaze mouthwateringly intense and heated. "I did it, Elaine," god, the way he says my name , "Because I don't remember the last time I meant something so much."